Clarity: Part One

O'Connell, Eve. "Leadership" via
Unrival. Public Domain License.

Often times, but not a lot, a little of the majority are clearly and precisely vague.

Say what?

My point exactly.  

This is clarity: part one.

Lesson 1: Balancing parallel ideas

Helping the reader make connections is vital to their understanding of the writing.   Connections can be made through parallels by incorporating words such as and, but, or, either, by, because, etc.  When these parallels are made, writers must use the correct form of the verb or noun so that the parallel is clear and effective.

Lesson 2: Providing variety

Variety helps the reader stay entertained as well as focused throughout the work.  In a text, variety can be achieved through differing sentence beginnings and sentence structures (such as alternating between simple and complex structures).  Both of these can sometimes be accomplished by inverting the structure of the sentence, as long as the sentence retains its original meaning.

Lesson 3: Tightening wordy sentences

It is surprising how emphasis and redundancy can be so easily confused.  Writers tend to add adverbs and different phrasings to help drive home their point, but most of the time these additions make the sentence wordy and confusing.  Oftentimes preciseness in wording provides the most clarity for the reader, which leads us to our final point.

Lesson 4: Exact wording

Finding the perfect word to capture the idea of a sentence is key to the clarity of a paper.  Words are often misused when they imply the wrong connotation or the wrong meaning all together.  Using a thesaurus is great for finding exact words, not making the author sound more intelligent.  In addition, avoiding words such as “things” give the reader a clearer picture of what is going on.


Reflection:

It is clear why clarity is so important, and even more understandable how it is extremely easy for someone to not recognize their own un-clarity.  For example, in her QRG, Carrie Belle Kent wrote, "Although just recently much debate has sprung up regarding this controversy there has been much talk about the building of telescopes in Hawaii for years." Even though the sentence makes sense, the idea is somewhat lost in the wordiness and repetition. Possibly inverting the first part of the sentence would help the reader flow from one idea to the next.

Michaela Webb's QRG showed me that the concept of paralleling ideas can span across paragraphs, not just within a section. She writes, "Native American groups have a history of losing battles like this." Earlier, she had provided an example of similar past events. By now taking this opportunity to parallel the two stories, she can really strengthen her analysis.